Ecosystem restoration transforms river's Mission Reach

Flowers and native grasses are taking root, and birds are flocking to river.

Updated 3:37 am, Friday, April 22, 2011

A yellow-crowned night heron hunts in the San Antonio River within the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project area.

A yellow-crowned night heron hunts in the San Antonio River within the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project area.

Photo: Lisa Krantz/Express-News

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A Texas Star growing near the San Antonio River blooms just in time for Earth Day today. The native plant is there thanks to the work that has been done in the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project.

A Texas Star growing near the San Antonio River blooms just in time for Earth Day today. The native plant is there thanks to the work that has been done in the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation

An unidentified flower grows as Riparian Field Technicians tend to the weeds within the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project area on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

An unidentified flower grows as Riparian Field Technicians tend to the weeds within the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project area on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Photo: Lisa Krantz/Express-News

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Lee Marlowe, Natural Resource Management Specialist, looks at a Basket Flower, part of the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project, on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Lee Marlowe, Natural Resource Management Specialist, looks at a Basket Flower, part of the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project, on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Photo: Lisa Krantz/Express-News

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A bee flies around Purple Horsemint growing next to the San Antonio River, part of the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

A bee flies around Purple Horsemint growing next to the San Antonio River, part of the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Photo: Lisa Krantz/Express-News

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A yellow-crowned night heron flies above the San Antonio River within the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project area.

A yellow-crowned night heron flies above the San Antonio River within the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project area.

Photo: Lisa Krantz/Express-News

Ecosystem restoration transforms river's Mission Reach

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Last spring, the banks of the San Antonio River were barren near the old Lone Star Brewery south of downtown, ready to be returned to their natural state.

Now, on Earth Day, part of the waterway is flourishing with native plants and wildlife, with help from an irrigation system during the persistent drought.

The entire eight-mile Mission Reach is well on the way to being revitalized after decades of looking more like a dreary concrete channel than a vibrant river.

Progress in the ecosystem restoration project was hard to detect until recently, when seeded wildflowers bloomed and native grasses took hold alongside some undesirable varieties that appeared on their own.

As egrets, hawks and ducks linger nearby, the riverbanks are splashed with color from bluebonnet, horsemint, Indian paintbrush, and primrose flowers. Thousands of native trees will be planted soon.

The transformation is most obvious on the 1.25-mile Phase 1 of the Mission Reach, which extends from Lone Star Street to the river's confluence with San Pedro Creek. It's been open to the public since December and already is heavily used by walkers, runners and bicyclists.

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Earthmoving is nearly finished on Phase 2, a one-mile segment downstream from San Pedro Creek to Mission Road, and planting is just getting started there. It's expected to open to public use this summer.

Next, the 5.75 miles of Phase 3 will be restored, taking the linear park south to Mission Espada by the end of 2013.

The project is part of a $159 million Bexar County effort that's managed by the San Antonio River Authority. The entities also collaborate on the river's 1.5-mile Museum Reach north of downtown, which isn't an ecosystem restoration.

“We love the Museum Reach, but our passion here is for this ecosystem restoration project because of the benefits that it will bring to the environment as a whole,” SARA General Manager Suzanne B. Scott said.

“It's really a model for urban ecosystem restoration projects in the nation. It's challenging,” she said.

Among those challenges have been dry weather resulting in low river flow; outbreaks of bank-to-bank algae; ubiquitous trash and unwelcome plant and fish species.

“What they (residents) are doing in their yards will ultimately affect the success of this project,” Scott said.

It'll take several decades for the 320 acres of riverside land to become riparian woodlands again, with mature pecan, cypress, oak and cedar elm trees along with shrubs and grasses, but the process had to start somewhere.

“Initially, its going to be like a native prairie,” said Lee Marlowe, a natural resources management specialist at SARA.

“We've put in more than 60 species of native plants and wildflowers. In Phase 1, we will be planting 3,000 young trees and shrubs — all natives, 39 species of those,” Marlowe said.

The tree planting is expected to begin in June, she added.

In the meantime, SARA is stepping up efforts to convince residents that careless management of invasive plants, exotic fish and trash can set back the river restoration effort.